The present invention relates to a handpiece with a built-in camera and a dental treatment method using the handpiece.
In the field of dental treatment, when a carious tooth or the like in the mouth is treated, in many cases, an operator uses a cutting handpiece for cutting and removing decayed portions of the tooth structure while visually observing the treatment site. In this case, the operator generally observes the distal wall of a tooth or the like, which is difficult to be visually observed, using a dental mirror.
In addition, during a procedure of the treatment site such as the cutting, a dental treatment device in which an illumination mechanism which illuminates the inside of the mouth is provided in a handheld member of this type of dental treatment instrument is used. The applicant developed and suggested Patent Documents 5 and 6 as the illumination mechanism used in this type of dental treatment device.
In recent years, a handpiece having an image photographing function for observing the inside of the mouth is also developed.
For example, in JP 2009-512463 W, a device is disclosed in which a medical procedure handpiece (laser handpiece) which outputs electromagnetic energy and an image capturing auxiliary device which is attached to and detached from the laser handpiece to be used are combined.
However, in the case of JP 2009-512463 W, the laser handpiece itself does not include image capturing means therein but the image capturing auxiliary device has to be attached whenever the image of a treatment side is to be captured during the use of the laser handpiece, which results in complexity during the use by an operator.
In JP 2006-81842 A, an auxiliary for fluorescence photography is disclosed which is combined with an existing handpiece for dental photography.
However, in the case of JP 2006-81842 A, since the auxiliary for fluorescence photography is combined with the handpiece for dental photography, the combination is clearly different from a configuration in which an image photographing function is added to a handpiece for cutting a treatment site.
In JP 09-140664 A, a dental camera for observing the inside of a mouth is suggested which is configured such that a head portion is provided at the tip end of a handpiece 1, an objective lens and a CCD for converting the image taken by the objective lens into an electrical signal are disposed at the head portion, the electrical signal converted by the CCD is transferred to an image display apparatus, an affected area in a mouth is illuminated by light emitted from the light-emitting end of a light guide.
However, even the case of JP 09-140664 A is not applied to the configuration in which an image photographing function is added to a handpiece for cutting a treatment site.
In JP 07-328032 A, a dental work handpiece provided with an image recording device including an image conductor and an optical waveguide is suggested. The dental work handpiece provided with the image recording device has a configuration in which the image conductor (3) and the optical waveguide (4) are assembled into the handpiece (1).
In the case of the dental work handpiece of JP 07-328032 A, it is estimated that the image of an affected area in the mouth can be recorded. However, this is merely a general configuration in which the optical waveguide (4) for illuminating the affected area is provided as a separate system from the image conductor (3) in the body.